Puppy Mill Bill finally ends Ohio’s dubious distinction as one of the country’s least regulated states for commercial dog breeding

In 2008, one of the most infamous
high-volume dog breeders in Virginia was convicted on 25 counts of
animal neglect and 14 counts of animal cruelty. In 2009, the state
passed a law restricting his illicit business practices. But a short
time later, he moved his so-called “puppy mill” to a state with some of
the industry’s laxest laws: Ohio.

“When other states have said ‘You’re bad
news, you can’t breed in our state,’ What have they done?” says Kelly
Difrischia, director of the Columbus Dog Connection. “They have packed
their bags and moved to Ohio.”

Indeed, until Jan. 1, 2014, Ohio was
battling Missouri for the dubious distinction as the most unregulated
state for puppy mills.

However, with the new year, that is
expected to change after Senate Bill 130 of the 130th General Assembly
went into effect. The Puppy Mill Bill mandates improved living
conditions for the dogs, setting standards for cage size, requiring
regular grooming, veterinary examinations and socialization. These
standards may seem obvious, yet before this law, some Ohio puppy mills
were an unregulated hub for neglect and abuse.

“Breeding dogs that languish in puppy
mills suffer from abhorrent neglect,” says Karen Minton, Ohio state director for the Humane Society. “Their nails grow into the pads of
their feet, their teeth aren’t ever taken care of, resulting in rotten
teeth and infected jaws.”

As for the breeders themselves, they must
also meet new standards. All will have to apply for a breeding permit
and undergo a background check during the application process. Past
indiscretions will disqualify them, thereby preventing Ohio from being
the destination for other states’ irresponsible breeders.

“Regarding licensure, those that have
been convicted of animal cruelty are no longer eligible for a breeder
license,” Minton says, “thus removing the welcome mat that laid at our
state’s border for so long.”

One of the most important pieces of the
law, Difrischia says, is that it gives the Ohio Department of
Agriculture, the agency in charge of enforcement, the ability to do
annual inspections.

“Because the state now has the ability to
knock on your door, it has put a lot of the really egregious
high-volume dog breeders on notice,” Difrischia says.

Related content

“Just by the fact
that we passed this bill, we put a lot of the bad apples out of
business, and that is amazing.”

To do this door knocking, the Department
of Agriculture hired four inspectors and a team of staff that includes
several veterinarians.

“They are going to be tasked with doing
inspections of the breeders,” says Department of Agriculture
spokesperson Erica Hawkins. “They are going to be making sure that our
care standards are being followed by the breeders.”

One thing they will not be checking, as
it is not included in the law, is for a specific temperature in the
dog’s housing facilities. Much to the chagrin of activists, the language
of the law was reworded to require a more qualitative kind of standard.
This is because, Hawkins says, lawmakers did not want to trap breeders
into a certain reading on the thermostat, but rather allow inspectors to
check if breeders are doing an adequate job of controlling temperatures
for their animals.

Difrischia points to the recent cold
front that swept through Ohio as reason why there needs to be a specific
temperature standard in the law and says the omission of one is among
her biggest disappointments.

“If a dog is going to be an employee and
make a lot of money for you, you should compensate that dog very well by
giving it very decent housing,” Difrischia says. “We aren’t even asking
for the Taj Mahal. We’re asking for adequate daily living conditions,
and we feel that those temperatures should have been set. It’s very
disappointing.”

On the other hand, State Sen. Jim Hughes,
the bill’s sponsor, is quick to point out that this is a vast
improvement from the past.

“Before this bill, it was unregulated,”
Hughes says. “So all this cold weather we have had, they could keep
those dogs outside, they could stack them in crates and they didn’t have
to have any food or water.”

The law went into effect on the first of the year, but the changes did not come overnight; they were seven years in the making.

“It’s been my most difficult bill,” Hughes says.

There were several parties involved in
the bill’s writing, from the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance to the Ohio
Veterinary Medical Association, the breeders and the rescuers, says
Difrischia.

“I guess the best analogy to use is
herding cats,” she says. “You have to get all of these people who have
different interests in what this language is to agree.”

Minton attributes the trouble to Ohio’s history as a difficult state in which to pass animal welfare legislation.

“Whether it is the influence of big
agriculture or concern about enacting new regulations on small
businesses, we faced our share of powerful opposition,” she says. “An
entire industry had gone unchecked for decades, and as you can imagine,
there were may high-volume breeders that preferred to keep it that way.”

Despite the roadblocks, Ohio managed to
pass the law and in doing so transitioned from one of the most lenient
and tolerant states for puppy mills to one that will no longer put up
with neglectful and irresponsible breeding habits.

“Ohio has definitely moved from being one
of the worst — with no laws on the books — to having some of the
strongest laws in the nation,” Minton says.

Difrischia and other activists believe the bill to be a great first step but acknowledge there is more to be done.